by Andre Norton
"What do you mean 'like pirates'? We are pirates." There was a lot of chuckling and Cregar removed the receiver. He took a small flat object from his belt, set several buttons, hooked it back, and strolled into the port crowds again. He'd let the recorder pick up anything else they said for a while, and he'd play it back every few hours. But Baris and Ideena would be busy most of the day. It would be later when they had their errands out of the way that what they said might have some bearing on him again.
He reported back to Dedran. "They're not intending to do anything until we leave Arzor. But I need a clean ID for myself and a set of theirs with their true identities. I'll plant theirs somewhere half smart. If we get picked up by any authorities I'll be clean and it'll be that pair who'll have to be answering questions."
He smirked. "There's times when I can hardly keep track of who's double-crossing who in this game. Hang on a moment." He activated the recorder and listened. "Nothing, just supplier trading. Listen, we'll be using their ship to get to Arzor and do the grab on the animals. One thing Baris and Ideena will do is try to fix their ship so I can't lift off on my own without them. Any ideas how they might be able to do that?"
Dedran considered. "Nothing you shouldn't be able to counter if you drop them at some stage and can pick over them and their gear for any lockchip. They'd probably use one of those to freeze their ship's controls. But if you have to make a run for it and lose them..." He thought. "Take an all-purpose memorychip. If they take a chip out of the navigationcomp the ship won't lift. Or if they run a null program to keep the programming wiped. Put a memorychip in and it bypasses the null program or the lack of a proper chip."
Cregar nodded. "Sounds okay. But keep thinking. I'll see you before I lift. If I don't come back neither do your animals." He didn't have to mention that if the authorities collected him because Baris and Ideena had been able to dump Cregar first, then if Cregar was still alive he'd have no reason not to talk to the Arzoran authorities and save his own skin. If he gave them someone higher up the chain they'd give him immunity and a new ID. He'd talk selectively of course. Enough to have them out looking for Dedran the mastermind.
Not enough to encourage a guild contract. But that would still leave Dedran doing several lifetimes-depending on the planet which caught him and for what. Some had the death penalty for many of Dedran's activities. And Dedran had no one farther up the chain he could talk about. Too many of those were heavy into the guild, who'd forcibly resent it. Not that Cregar had to say any of this, he didn't have to, it was what Dedran would do if he was the one caught first. His smile was bitter-what a life. Turn in your companion before he turned you in. Trust no one, make no friends, never stay long in any place. How had he come to this?
Cregar spent much of the day on the move, but he sat in to watch the afternoon show. It went well and the crowd stood to applaud at the end. Judging by the number of people turned away at the door, Dedran would be able to stay here for weeks without suspicion. He checked out the recorder as he checked back with the circus boss. Neither had any more worth hearing. Cregar headed toward the ramp, then halted.
There was one other thing which bothered him. But there wasn't much he could do about it. He turned away and stood looking indecisively into the animal hold. At the far side he could see the girl grooming a tigerbat. They'd be setting up for the evening show soon. Cregar cursed in a soft, tired voice. He was a fool. But he trusted Laris more than he did any other person, and she'd warned him. He'd understood her earlier comment to him about the natives, they weren't quite as passive as the ship's library made them out to be. With that warning in mind he'd added a precaution or two for his trip into the clan lands.
Dedran had talked recently about his plans for the child. Here on Lereyne they had the arenas as they had on several other worlds. In them, beasts fought for their lives. On Lereyne the sport was frowned upon socially although it was not illegal. However, the nonacceptance meant that it was very difficult to acquire good beast trainers. Dedran would like to sell Laris for that purpose, unless her bond expired before he could do so, or the child found enough credit to escape. And if she thought what he would tell her now was only about money-the child was as honest as she could be with Dedran as bond-master.
He caught her eye and signaled her to come to him in silence. She obeyed, then stood listening as he spoke in the camp slang he'd learned in low ports, using a very soft, carefully blurred voice. None could lip-read that or even pick it up understandably with a wall bug or directional mike.
"If I don't come back, I gotta a stash 'a credits. Want you ter have them. They behind a panel, room next t' mine." He gave swift directions and waited to see she understood.
"Why'n me?"
"If 'n I don't need them 'ny more what matter. Take 'em and get out. Swear oath, no touchin' 'til it's sure I'm gone. Then use 'em to leave. Oke?"
She met his eyes firmly. "Swear oath," the same carefully blurred voice repeated. She put out a shy hand and brushed her fingertip over his arm. "You'm take care 'n thanks." She was gone, back to her tigerbat grooming and Cregar was left shaking a little. He forced calm and left without meeting Dedran. He found himself wondering, if he'd stayed in the service, if he'd married, if he'd had a daughter, would she have been like that one?
He hoped so. Then he scoffed at himself. He was getting soft in his old age. Laris was just another camp brat, but-she was better than most. The girl had warned him, risking the circus boss's anger if he'd heard that, and Cregar had heard her tell Dedran earlier that Cregar was a fine trainer. Something inside of him was warm remembering her words. Let the kid get out if she had the chance; if he went down on this trip his credits would be no use to him anyway.
He turned into the street where the shop should have his requirements, his thoughts returning to the circus. If Laris stayed there Dedran would fake an open bond and sell the child to be a beast trainer for one of the arenas. She would fight that-and her new owners-and be broken, something he didn't wish to happen. He put it all out of his mind as he entered the store and settled to bargain for one of the all-purpose shipchips. They came high and he wasn't wasting credit.
Fortunately he didn't have to. Lereyne was a fishing planet with a number of ports-and all the shops which catered to them. On the huge inland sea there were canneries, fish-drying factories, and a host of fishing boats, along with the people who worked on the boats and in the factories. The volume of foreign cargo ships which ported on Lereyne not only made it an excellent place to stop for a circus, it also made it a good place to buy small, normally high-cost, portable items. Cregar bought an all-purpose secondhand shipchip for a price which made his smile stay in place all the time he searched for Baris.
Chapter Eight
Cregar found Baris. The man was gambling again but with skill. From what the ex-beast master knew, Baris often supplemented his and Ideena's income with some clever cheating but only on planets not sophisticated enough to have checking programs in place. The penalties for being caught cheating ranged from forced bond to death depending on the world and its laws.
Nor would Baris bother with the inner worlds, where monetary systems were mainly on personal or general memorychips. They depended on IDs which were almost impossible to forge, and their gambling payouts were transferrals from one chip to another. Baris wouldn't gamble on such worlds; they gave nothing portable and anonymous. Computer winnings on such worlds could be too easily tracked from planet to planet. He signaled Baris who raked in a stack of credits and nodded.
"Thank you, friends. I must go now as I warned you." He flicked a couple of credits across to the dealer. "Drinks on me." He bowed to the gamblers around the table. "I salute you. It's as well I'm leaving before fortune frowns and I lose my very boots."
Cregar noted the grins. So, Baris had been cheating a bunch of rich amateurs. A good touch. He'd warned them he'd have to leave when a friend showed up. Paid for drinks, and left them with a compliment. By their looks, they had no suspicion they
'd been done. They thought of Baris as a nice man and merely a good gambler with luck on his shoulder. Cregar made a mental note of that. Baris was a better psychologist than he'd thought. Judging by the stack of credits he'd scooped up he'd sheared this bunch and left them liking it.
Baris joined him. "Nice people, terrible gamblers." His smile was satisfied. "Ideena will be pleased. I made back everything we spent on supplies earlier."
Cregar hid a wince. "How long were you at the table?"
"Five hours. Come on, Ideena wants us back at the ship. She plans to lift off as soon as we get clearance."
Obediently Cregar hurried. Five hours, he was thinking as he trotted along. Baris must have tossed in the occasional hand and built up a slow but steady trickle of hands won. No huge pots. No obvious runs of too-good fortune. Just a quiet bleeding of credits across the table in Baris's direction. He'd have used sleight of hand to drop credits into his pockets. No buildup of those on the table. With them out of sight and Baris not seen pocketing them either, there'd have been nothing to remind the others that they kept losing.
Cregar wasn't a gambler himself. Most professionals in that field had a touch of ESP. His own abilities didn't lean in that direction, but he knew how it was done. It was one of the first things they taught beast masters, so they didn't get caught in any traps. He'd survived long enough to learn that as well as other things. He didn't realize his lips had peeled back in a snarl. They'd taught him, shown him heaven-then torn it away from him, leaving him empty and bleeding for the rest of his life. They would pay.
At the ship Ideena was waiting. "What kept you?" Her tone softened when Baris grinned and began turning credits from his pockets. "Well done. No trouble?"
He snorted. "Bunch of amateurs. Rich kids wanting to show they knew what was what. I trimmed them good an' they never knew a thing. They'll still be down there drinking the credits I left and saying what a nice guy I was."
Ideena was counting the notes and coins. "This'll cover what I spent for supplies. Nothing like a free trip." She eyed Cregar. "But there's still fuel. You'd better make this worthwhile, Circus Man. Get to your cabin and strap down. I've already got clearance. We lift in a few minutes."
Cregar nodded and left. He opened doors. The first two cabins clearly belonged to Baris and Ideena. The next was empty. He dropped his bag into a chest bolted to the floor, rolled onto the bunk, and fastened the shockweb harness. Just a couple of minutes later the small ship shivered and leapt skyward. Cregar was mulling over something Ideena had given away. She had to have known Baris had met him and that they were on their way to the ship.
Without knowing that, she'd hardly have asked for liftoff clearance. This was an active port. It was the clearing area for the trade of several planets. Ships large and small came and went busily. If Ideena had asked for clearance and then aborted they'd have dumped her to the back of the queue. Therefore she'd known they were on their way. Which meant she and Baris had some way of keeping in contact without the man making it obvious.
He'd better find out what that was. It could be inconvenient at the least to have them exchanging information if he wanted them isolated. At the most it could be lethal. The shivering quietened as the power curve leveled off. Gravity dropped to what felt like a quarter of standard and Cregar flicked the shockweb harness free again. He stood and wandered from the cabin. Time for a quick snoop now under the guise of finding his way about.
He had time for that and more over the time it took to make Arzor. Baris tried to entice him into gambling and failed. Ideena tried her wiles and he allowed it to appear she had succeeded. Not that she'd take it further than sweet smiles. Baris wouldn't like it. But he allowed it to seem that he was softening toward her, perhaps that he was beginning to even trust her a little. He wondered who was fooling who. But you had to play the game.
They landed on Arzor. Hiring a copter and a few career criminals was easy. Baris had the transactions completed by evening. They'd fly out early the next morning. Cregar went to his cabin for a good night's sleep. Judging by the sounds, Baris and Ideena had sought her cabin for a similarly early night, although not to sleep. That was another interesting point. Courting danger clearly excited them. His smile was grim as he made his own preparations. If they tried anything he'd be ready for it and the danger would be more than they were expecting.
The copter was already there by the time they had risen and eaten a light meal the next morning. The hired quartet of scruffy, dangerous-looking port scum were lounging about beside it. Baris was a qualified pilot, but at a pinch Cregar could get the copter up if he had to. He took the seat behind Baris and unobtrusively watched as the big man handled the controls.
The copter circled, drifted in as quietly as possible from an unexpected direction, and finally settled in to land in the rough country past the clan camp. They'd wait until dark then move in. Both Baris and Ideena had slipped dark lenses into their eyes. They would be able to see well enough. The lenses Cregar used were state-of-the-art. He could not only see everything as if it were day, he could also pick up heat auras. He'd know if living things were in hiding behind brush or behind anything else which allowed a heat signature to seep past.
He omitted to mention that. Let them believe his lenses were of the usual kind. If things went wrong he wasn't about to risk more than he had to. The sun curved slowly across the lavender sky. The copter's seven occupants dozed, drank, and ate. Cregar eyed the hired quartet from under half-closed eyelids. An unsavory bunch. Ten-to-one if Ideena found her gems in any quantity there'd be an attempt to dump her, Baris, and Cregar. Probably not until the men had been paid though. If they waited until they were back at the ship they could maybe loot the ship too.
He lay back, allowing himself to fall into a half sleep. He could smell the desert from here where the small breeze lifted to higher land. It was a good smell. Clean, dry, with a hint of the growing brush. That soft smoky scent which would have said falwood in bloom to an Azoran. In the distance a grass hen squawked angrily. Cregar squinted at his watch. He'd keep an eye on their so-called comrades in crime. He didn't think they'd try anything. Not yet. They wouldn't move until there was loot to take. Right now he'd be safe enough.
When he woke completely the sun was almost down. It would take them a couple of hours to walk the distance to the clan camp. Best they had a meal now, then started. Ideena was of the same mind. Once they'd begun the march she ranged up alongside Cregar and her voice came in a low tone none but he could hear.
"I don't trust these men." That was the pot calling the kettle black, Cregar thought. He cocked an eyebrow in invitation for her to continue and she did, dropping her voice still lower. "I've a spare gun tucked in the clump of weeds by the ramp. If anything happens, pretend to fall down there."
"What sort of gun? How effective will it be?" He wanted to know how far she'd go.
"Stunner but it's blast-bolt activated." That told him. She'd go all the way. Activating a stunner with a blast-bolt had been done before, but it was so frowned on that anyone caught doing it would go to rehab automatically. Of course, if it was his life, then he'd risk the illegality first and worry about rehab later. It wasn't likely they'd catch him anyhow. Or care greatly about the death of any of this lot. But it told him more than he'd known about this precious pair. He'd always thought they were small-time. They might still be the jackals he'd believed. If they were prepared to go that far though, they were rabid ones. He spoke quietly.
"What about your own stunners here?"
"They're straight."
That was better-if it was the truth but he couldn't be sure of that until they used their weapons. He plodded on in silence considering all he'd learned of them thus far. He couldn't trust any of the six people with him and he didn't like that. He'd have liked things even less if he'd known what lay ahead.
Tani had returned to the clan. Storm had accepted that when, after ten days, there'd been no sign of trouble. But it was the time between the two major sea
sons on Arzor, the big wet and the big dry. She enjoyed that pleasantly mild in-between season and had gone back to hunt with her friends another few days. They'd taken two yearling merin deer and a number of the fat grass hens. It was an hour short of dusk. They'd done well enough, now they'd head for the camp to be back before dark.
Jumps High, the first clan friend she had made the year before, had been about to pack the meat onto their horses when Ferarre's ears pricked. He whined. Linking, Tani caught the up and down beat of a muffled copter. She hissed and dropped flat. Jumps High copied that as did the other four natives.
He half turned from his sprawl to hand-sign to her. "Danger, where, what?"
"Ferarre hears a copter. That's not good."
"How so?"
"It didn't head for the camp, instead it's gone in a half circle around and landed beyond. It hasn't lifted off again. You know the law, no copter is allowed over clan lands. I think those who fly it may be enemies." It had to be that. Or some idiot citizen with more money than sense but the rangers would have known and stopped it. The treaty was very firm on over-flights.